hi for the last time

say bye bye to this blog.
bye

holy shmokesh

I realise I havent blogged bout the thailand trip!!! and i've
forgotten all about it alreadeeee!!! yes, it was not as memorable as
psg, but it is still something to rmb!!

ok so food there wasnt my cup of tea. NOT AT ALL. everything(almost)
was sour and spicy, the 2 flavors I cant stand the most. the things
tht got me by were my milo bars and the microwavable duck rice and
pork trotters rice I bought from the conveniece stall. yummy... oh and
their rice is super nice. nicer than ours!!

nuf bout food, the training ground was not bad, if not for the
training pit they gave us. IT WAS SO DAMN STIFF!!! I had a headache
after landing on it. and my specs were flung up. it was that bad.
other than tht, it was alright. the track was stiff, so it made you go
faster. yayy. BUT, on competition itself, a side wind came from no
where. it was damn freaking strong. I kept swerving to the left then
in the end, I cleared 4.00m only. :(((((

but at least I got a second!! tied with sean! so s'pore had 2 silver
medals. haha. so cool . I thought I would get last(out of 4 people)
since I cleared only that one height. but turns out, the fourth guy
didnt clear 4m! so I tied with sean and I got a horsey!!! which is the
mascot of the games.

lessee... wat else... right. s'pore night was a flop! I arranged our
postcards so nicely, but people took it away when we left, n I thought
they would lock the room... but the other displays were nice too.

oh oh oh!!! the place there was real nice. they grow rice there, so
there were rice fields everywhere!!! damn cool!!!

sigh sigh. abt the people. I dunno. I just didn't feel like I made any
real frens. I felt emo half the time. like I'm being left out. but I
was probably leaving myself out. and tht was cos... I dunno.

but I felt better on the last day cos first, I was finally going home.
AND they brought us to MBK in Bangkok!!! I felt at home there. haha.
tht's cos I've been there a few times. so funnn.

oh I liked transporting the poles! so fun! like driving. haha cos must
know how to navigate the poles if not u will crash into stuff n people.

ok. I think tht's abt it. yayy

i say, "this is wide, mudafuka!"

go search "chinese guy disses jonas brothers" on youtube. its hilarious.

ok on a serious note, i'm improving!!! recently, i cleared 4.30m in an unofficial, unnamed, unimportant competition. aaaaand the next training session, i cleared 4.30m with 30-40cm to spare, A FEW TIMES. and then today, i cleared 4.50m with some spare too!! though not as much, and i wasnt extending much today. oh but the thing is, i was using the 15' 145lbs pole at 10 steps, holding like 70cm below the max grip height!!! i was actually using that pole for 14 steps in thailand, holding at 40cm below max grip height!!! am i getting fat or wat?!

oh and speaking about extension...

i had actually resigned to the "fact" that i was lousy. but not anymore. NOT ANYMORE. i have the potential to be the best, and i will prove to all that i can be the best, and that i deserve so much more than whatever crap people throw at me.

i am strong. i am fast. i can jump. i can penetrate. i know how to extend, just don't really know how to execute it yet. (but i'm getting there. give me 2 more months). i use bigger poles, with lower hand grip and shorter run-up. i am mentally strong. i have self-discipline. i'm handsome. (juuuust)

I AM SO MUCH MORE.

look out people. here i come. no more 4.44m. screw it. i want the national record.

on a "lighter", less vengeful side, my promos are coming up!!! gotta study hard, and train hard. and study harder. gotta win the bet!!! i dont want to have to eat chilli for all my meals. :(

200th post!!!

for a moment, i was wondering if "200th" is correct or not. and i still dont know if its correct or not. so.... anyway.

another happy day!!! new personal best at 4.30m!!! awesome...

i tried for 4.44m next. but the 15' 155lbs pole was too soft. so coach told me to stop jumping and i listened. but he still told me to try a jump with the 15' 160lbs pole. it was a wee bit stiff, but it would be better once i held like a grip higher and a grip wider. woots!!! by hook or crook, my personal best must be 4.44m at least for once. i dont give a shit if its only 5 minutes. I JUST WANT IT.

and and and... happy happy!!!

redluohsymnodaehruoytup!!!

tunesacosyvaehalalalarteropagnisskcor!!!

potsubehttadnahruoygnidloh!!!

tee hee

happy day!!! :D :D :D :D

suphan buri, here i come

i'll be leaving in approximately 24 more hours. still not as excited as the australia trip, but looking forward to the competition. though not excited about the competition as well. i think it's because of all the work i'm going to miss. have some feelings of guilt. hope i can get this chance to catch up with work.

oh and i havent pack my stuff yet. sianzzzzz...

having some birthday bash for the track seniors. but i dont think i can make it, even though i want to. they thing starts at 1830, my tuition starts at 1715 and ends at 1945. and the teacher wants me to stay back. so let's say i'm let off at 2030(he asked for me to expect to stay back for a while), and i reach at about 2045, or even 2100. i'll have to leave by 2230 at most cos i have to get up at 0500 the next morning. i dont see the point in me staying for just n hour and a half.

sigh... the track teachers want to know our results. i bet i got the lousiest results. and then i'll get banned from training. then have some study period during training or something. you know wat the teacher told me the other time i saw him? "so you taking the chinese paper later this afternoon right? must get a ah." and it just came naturally, but i gave the "huuuh....." look and i just suddenly so downcast. and he shot back at me, "what? you studied right? so? can get a right?" (around that line). so damn demoralising please. it just shows how much expectations everyone has on me. they want me to jump high (i know it was a disappointing height. oh, damn it. i just realised i've been "scolded" for nothing. i won at 4.15m and the teacher said, "next time no more this kind of height." but the thing is, after 4.15m, i went for the record. and i didn't break the record, which was 4.31m. so it did not show that i was only capable to clear 4.15m that day. it just means that i was not good enoguh to clear 4.31m. ok nvm forget it. dont create any excuse for myself.) they want me to get good results they basically want me to please them in every single way.

sianzzzzzzzzzz

i half expect my teachers to be asking, "why arent u using this extra time to study?" while i train on my own. and i'll expect coach to say, "you need to have an extra training session each week."

i know what i want for my birthday.

let me be a caveman. please.

4.44m 4.44m 4.44m 4.44m

mua haha!!!

one of my childhood dreams have been fulfilled!!!

we had a meeting for asg(asean school games) on friday. i remembered it so clearly that it was at 4, and the facebook message even said 4, but it turned out to be at 3. and we were collecting our attire then, so i my senior had to pack for me. so pai seh. lucky the teachers didnt scold.

anw. this time's stuff so much nicer than australia's. the only thing nice about australia is that their jersey is nicer. though this one is nice. oh and they gave us a milo t-shirt during the australia trip. this time dont have. haha.

BUT. the childhood dream fulfilled is...

*drum roll....................*

my jacket has an inside pocket at where the chest is(dont know how else to discribe it. oh i know. you know the episode where mr bean goes to the park to make his sandwich? and he put all his stuff inside the pockets inside his trench coat? yeah. that's the pockets i'm referring to). HAHA!!! i have been looking for a jacket with a pocket on the inside since forever. the rationale behind it is that when i was young, i thought it was really cool because i felt that only spies(and of course mr bean) had those kind of jackets with pockets on the inside.

the australia trip's jacket also had a pocket on the inside, but it was because the jacket could be flipped inside out. so it sorta didnt count, though it made me a wee bit content. but now, *hor* *hor* shuang gan dao. but it's only one pocket. so i can only put my passport.

next childhood memory to relive, finding the perfect fishball, with the exact texture and taste as the ones i ate last time. my mum speculates that it's because i had fishball soup everyday, literally, that's y i looked like a fishball last time. haha. i will always ask my mum every day, "today wat soup?" and when her reply was not "fishball soup", i will go, "huuuuuuh..... no fishball soup ah?" HAHA!

oh oh oh!!! and and and!!! asg is next next week!!! i only have 3 more training sessions!!! what the pong??!!! i'm so not prepared!!! and i'm even more not prepared than i was for psg. at least i trained diligently during my o levels. but this time, i pon all training during ct, and now my fitness kana sai. i jump a few times then peng san already. and i think SHIT(super high intensive training) wouldnt even help right now. and if i dont perform well there( i want at least a pb. 4.44m. yeah nice. i'll try for that.), than all the days of school i'll be missing will be forsaken for ziltch!!!

ok on a lighter note. mother just told me this super lame joke. "why is jurong point so big?"

"because it has a giant inside"

Kampung Lorong Buangkok

yesterday, we went to kampung lorong buangkok to have an interview with the land owner there for our pw. for those who dont know, it's the last kampung in singapore and we would like to conserve it. though it is disappointing that the kampung is apparently featured in numerous media documents, and we thus arent the only few people in singapore who know about it(duh...), i at least have something really special to embrace.

apparently, there is this really unfriendly/fierce dog in the kampung. his name is shunshun. out of all the people that have visited that kampung(at least 500), it has never allowed anyone near it. don't even mention about petting it. HOWEVER. this dog, actually came up to me during the interview, and sniffed my and licked my hand and asked me to pet it and all. even the land owner of the kampung, Ms. Sng, was suprised. i felt really honoured. and it came back not once, but thrice. woots. i keep touching and rubbing its ears because it was really soft. and it just let me. and i believe that the story is true because when we were leaving, the dog plus his two buddies followed us, and this guy cut through our group then shunshun started barking at him.

so one theory is that i smell just like a dog. another theory is that Ms. Sng says that we used to be good friends in our past life. haha. i choose the former.

and omfg(oh my freaking goodness), i almost forgot about this. THEY HAVE FIREFLIES!!!!!! but you can only see them on a clear night between 9 and 10pm. i wanna go!

ok. anw.

The trip yesterday was really fruitful. We managed to get an interview with Ms. Sng, and we managed to get answers to most of our questions.

As for the kampung itself, it really is an eye-opener. Kampung life seems so much more interesting than city life. For one, it is less stressful. It is moving at such a slow pace. How I wish I could guiltlessly spend the whole day clearing out the gutter that is full of leaves. Ms. Sng seems to be living so comfortably with so little, with only pets and her niece and nephew to keep her company at times. Her wisdom definitely surpasses that of her peers, or perhaps even that of her seniors and she probably gained her unsurpassed wisdom through her experiences in the kampung. I admit that one must have that inner spark to comprehend all the unorthodox lessons the kampung experiences will teach, and hence a kampung life would not yield the same results as it did with Ms. Sng if some random person were in her place. However, it does not mean that the importance of conserving the kampung is less since not everyone is "suited" for the kampung life.

Rather than thinking about conserving the kampung for persons, I am thoroughly convinced that the kampung has to be preserved for the people. For the people living in the Kampung and for us, the people. kampung Lorong Buangkok defers from the kampungs in the past, with proper lavatory facilities, electricity, clean water, and even garbage disposal trucks at their service just like any urban home. However, the mainstay environment is very much alive. This refers to "gotong royong". People do look out for one another, and care for each other. There is even a house where tables and chairs were put out for strangers to take a rest.

Ms. Sng narrates numerous accounts of her helping out her neighbours, clearing the leaves of their front lawns, taking care of the dogs they abandoned, and of course rousing them in the middle of the night to warn them of flash floods. One may feel that she is merely blowing her own trumpet, but I can tell you that what she is trying to do is teach us the importance of having consideration for others. More often than not, we think that the greater good is ourselves. Logically thinking, who would possess the lack of common sense to want to trouble oneself in having more consideration for outsiders than for one's self or one's family? But being selfish is a vicious cycle because our neighbours would then harbour the same mentality as you and this gotong royong was thus lost little by little in our urban community till it's nearly inexistent, something which the rural kampung is experiencing right now.

"Eternity" is often described as taking all the mountains in the world and grinding it into sand, then having a sparrow to take each grain of sand away, once every century or even millennia. I believe that the changing of this society's mentality, our third world mentality, will take an eternity. Though a simple action such as clearing the leaves off your neighbour's front porch is akin to a small bird taking a grain of sand away, the deed is still done, the impact is still felt, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. Just look at the human body. Every single one of us were created when a single cell split into two. That led to a catalytic splitting for cells into the trillions of cells that we are made up of. Had that single cell not split, others would not.

Perhaps, it would not bring fair justice to our past kampungs if we were to just preserve the last kampung physically. More importantly, what we should conserve and spread is the spirit of the kampung. The spirit of thinking and acting for others, of acting socially responsible. I wonder if it is just me or if people also feel the satisfaction I get just by helping people, strangers or not. Just think, wouldn't it be nice if there is no need to have those irritating courtesy campaigns, reminders to be vigilant against dengue, or even the deadly H1N1 virus? So much government funding could be channeled to more useful outlets, such as welfare for the underprivileged, if all we did was to be more like Ms. Sng. And she's even humble to boot.

It will be a pity if this classroom of mine will be lost forever. But though this may sound like a paradox, I hope that awareness campaigns about the kampung would not be so successful such that the whole of Singapore would want to come down to take a look at the kampung. As it is, there is hardly a lane wide enough for 5 people to stand shoulder to shoulder. But I hope that that does not happen as in order to save the kampung, there needs to be enough public interest in the area, as how Chek Jawa was saved. But as how Chek Jawa was, I fear that this surge of interest would cause a stampede and possible destruction in the kampung itself, or if this conservation was commercialised, something Ms. Sng would never want. Or worse still, if it was only temporary.

I dare say that the trip has a greater impact on me than it has an impact on my group's project.

POLE VAULTING 100,000,001 PART II

i wanted to do a post about training for the pole vault for each different steps. but its so damn complicated. i'm not trying to prove my point that pole vaulting is complicated, but there are like a thousand and one things one could do to train up for pole vault. and i would probably be writing a thesis paper if i did complete it.

besides, who knows who reads my blog? what if some guy claims i plagaries his stuff? then i'm dead. or what if like WEN JIE reads my blog, then he discovers my secrets? and he masters what i narate then go own to own me upside down inside out leftside right. then doesn't that make me an idiot? NO wenjie. NO. i won't be so stupid.

because, what did the man say when he walked into the bar?

he said,"ouch"

that's why. so plants versus zombies is like damn fun.

go try.

(i could if i really wanted to. but it will seriously really take a loooooooooooong while. by the time i finish it, i may have already retired from pole vaulting. so. yeah. eat more fruits and vegetables.)

POLE VAULTING 100,000,001

huzzah!!! this shall be the longest post of the year. it will prove that pole vaulting is one of the most complicating things on planet earth.

i have finally managed to loosely grasp the concept of pole vaulting, with the help of mr. wong(whom i found out is my neighbour. i stay in block 148, he 143. haha) i must complete this post, in case i forget. let's go through the vault minute step by minute step.

step 1) choosing the pole
start with a pole with regular stiffness. don't waste time on soft ones if i know i can get on the regular pole.

step 2) on the run way
visualise every single step of the jump. concentrate. ignore all other distractions. like jokes, discussions, minor disturbances by other people, wind, song in my head, soccer game by the field, etc.

step 3) the run up
for short run ups (10 steps and below):
i. just whack
for 10 steps and above:
i. take slow strides till the final 10th step
ii. then start to accelerate till the last 6 steps
iii. and finally, just whack the last 6 steps, running tall, increasing cadence.
for all:
i. do not hasten to increase speed at the middle part of the run-up. i will possibly die out at the final part and kill all my speed. maintain proper rhythm.
ii. watch out for stretched steps(especially the final step at take-off), and shut steps. either could mean a screwed-up take-off point measurement. or maybe i could just be stretching/shutting my steps because of lack of confidence or even excessive confidence. or i'm changing the way i'm running.
iii. oh and, don't forget to lower the pole.

step 4) the plant
the plant occurs concurrently with the run up, on the final 2 steps.
i. plant must be close to the body, brushing past the ear.
ii. plant must also be high at the end. both arms to extend as far as possible, with the right hand positioned right above the take-off foot(or one could say, position the take-off foot directly below the right hand.)

step 5) the take-off
the take-off occurs concurrently with the plant
i. at point of take off, body should form a straight line when seen from the back. line is indicated by right hand, head, butt, and left foot. (right now, my head deviates to the left and my left foot deviates to the right. which is damn damn damn bad. it kills my take off and makes me drift to the left after the take-off. so i must be daring enough to stick my head towards the pole, and take off right in the middle.)
ii. take-off must be powerful, and upward not inward, with full ankle extension.
iii. hold and open up split to form the letter "C" with right arm, inward curving back, and STRAIGHTENED left leg. (i'm doing the nazi sign right now. which is quite bad. it weakens the swing which is actually the most important part of the extension, which is the most important part of the jump.)
iv. drive the right knee into the pole.

step 6) the penetration
the penetration occurs right after and concurrently with take-off.

from above paragraph, "hold and open up split... ... knee into the pole.", is actually part of the penetration.
i. penetrate into the pole(which means to do the above quoted paragraph), attempt to break the pole.
ii. push left arm and thrust chest upwards.(this probably explains my moobs because i always do this. hahaha.)
iii. hold position until it feels right.

step 7) the extension (i divide this into 3 sections)
7a) the swing
the swing occurs right after penetration
i. as the name implies, just swing. think "swing fast", "whip up hard", "keep going all the way, don't stop".
ii. keep going when torso is parallel to the ground(i will form the letter "L").
iii.at this point, tuck left arm in(in as in on the right side of the pole. i usually let the pole smell our armpit, if you know what i mean.) to close to the ribs
iv. and stick as close to the pole as possible, like i'm the furry thing and the pole is the prickly thing of velcro straps.
7b) the butt thrust + shoulder row + lean back
occurs right after the swing(which ends when torso is parallel to the ground.)
a powerful swing would make this portion much easier, because i will be utilising momentum, instead of muscle power.
i. with feet together, i thrust my butt,
ii. row my shoulders(right hand should reach over to the left thigh/hip and left hand to be under the pits)
iii. and finally lean back to be looking at the run way.
iv. and all the time, stick as close to the pole as possible. only then will i be one with the pole and form the letter "I"(right now, i'm tucking my chin in to look at the cross-bar and i form a letter "J" instead. this is really bad because i'm killing about 5-10cm of extension)
7c) the twist
occurs right after the butt thrust + shoulder row + lean back
i. immediately after forming the letter "I", i, while still sticking to the pole like furry thingy to prickly thing on velcro strap, will twist my hips to the left such that my chest is facing the bar.
ii. and while this is going on, i must jerk at the pole with all my might such that my right arm is fully bent and my left arm is fully extended, still in my "I" position, at the end of the twist. (i watched videos of isinbaeva and her twist is lightning fast. and since f=ma, so i guess that's how those pros are able to do so well.)
and the extension is complete

step 8) the jack-knife
occurs concurrently with the end of the twist(it is in fact a continuation of the twist)
mr. wong taught me this.
i. at the top of the "I", as i push off with my fully bent right hand,
ii. i can either kick my left leg down and let the right leg hang, or kick both legs downward, bending at my hip. i think i'll probably kick my left leg down.

step 9) the siam
occurs concurrently with the end of jack-knifing
i. as i kick down hard and push off hard, my chest should be going over the bar right about now.
ii. so i must arch my upper back to avoid the bar.
iii. and as i roll over the bar, i must turn my wrist inward to lift my elbows up
iv. and just siam the bar

step 10) the celebration
i. go *wuuuuhhh-oo-oh* because if i really did everything, i will definitely clear the bar.
ii. scream like a girl because i know i can. *winks*

alrighty. so these are the 10 major steps, with mini steps within them, to good pole vaulting. let us not forget that there are other things to worry about, like how winds will alter your vaulting style(head winds push you back so run-up will have to be shortened, tail winds push you forward so run-up will have to be extended, side winds cause drifting so extra caution has to be taken. don't forget that different jumps will have different types of wind so you must know how to change accodingly.), like how you may just suddenly feel (too) hyped-up, or suddenly just emo because of a previous jump(so one must be able to control his emotions. too aroused and u'll just kill yourself, like what i almost did during australia, had i not been in need of that extra arousal it because i was ill. too relaxed and performance dips.), etc. there's a possibility of a million other different scenarios taking place.

but even without these to hinder us, steps 4 to 9 have to be completed in a little more than 1 second. theres still the minor steps in the major steps, which sums up to me having to process about 20 thoughts in a little more than 1 second. how crazy is that?! with step 3 in, i will have to process about 25 thoughts in that roughly-averaged-out-5-second-long jump, with the first four seconds processing the first 5 thoughts. 25!!! how crazy is that?!

next post, exercises to for training up each and every step. stay tuned.

(phew. so proud of myself man. *pats myself on the back* i shall print this out. mua haha.)